Cops forced to take down Facebook post about woman banned from McDonald’s
Northamptonshire Police removed post and startling picture of Denise Walker, 47, being given a behaviour order after hundreds of angry comments
COPS have been forced to take down a social media post about a ‘nuisance woman’ following public outcry online.
Northamptonshire Police published a release on Facebook about Denise Walker, 47, in which they revealed she had been given a criminal behaviour order for throwing things at people in McDonald's.
They also stated that she was now banned from all of McDonald's branches in Daventry, Northamptonshire, and used the headline ‘nuisance woman served with criminal behaviour order’.
They also released a startling picture of Walker which showed her to have a shaven head, several missing teeth and tense expression.
Some 400 comments were left below the post in which the force were heavily criticised with many Facebook users suggesting that Walker ‘needed help’ rather than criminal punishment.
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Several people also said the police force were being insensitive towards someone who potentially had a mental illness.
One user wrote: “How typical of Northants Police for posting this. So compassionate as usual, no mention of the cry for help time and time again… You’ve gone and made her situation 10 times worse.”
Another added: “Shame on whoever posted this.”
According to the CBO, Walker is not allowed to enter certain shops for two years or act in a manner that is likely to ‘cause nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress’ to members of the public.
It specifies that she must not throw items at people, property or vehicles and that she is banned from contacting certain individuals.
The ban was issued to Wheeler at Northampton Magistrate’s court last week.
After the ban was secured a spokesperson from the force's Anti-Social Behaviour Unit said: “We always try and resolve any issues locally to help improve the situation.
“However, if behaviours persist we take it very seriously and will look to pursue legal action as a last resort in order to improve the condition for local residents.”
Northamptonshire Police initially defended the Facebook post as ‘appropriate’ although they later deleted it.
They said that although the post had prompted a debate on how mental health is approached by the law, the CBO was issued by a court and it was therefore important that the public were made aware of it.
A spokesperson told the BBC: “A decision was made to take it down… because the vast amount of comments on Facebook – many of them negative and entirely without merit – were proving too difficult to manage.”
They added: “This was an appropriate response in the circumstances.”
Two weeks ago a toddler choking on a McDonald’s chicken nugget was saved by a wheelchair-bound army medic in panicked scenes at a branch in Hartlepool.
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